Pokémon Laguna Region: Jennifer's Quest
by Kelvek
Summary: Thirteen year old Jennifer goes on a journey to become a Pokémon Master in a region called Laguna. On her way, and with time, she befriends two guys who decide to become her traveling partners. All three of them with different goals and dreams while rivalry is in between as motivation. All rights go to the creators of Pokémon: Satoshi Tajiri, Junishi Masuda and Ken Sugimori.
1. Beginning of Journey

**Pokémon Laguna Region: Jennifer's Quest**

**Author: Kevin Rivera**

The main characters of this story are all OCs, just so you know before you start reading. Now, if you're asking yourself if at least some characters like Ash, Misty and others are going to be here then yes, I'm thinking of adding some with time. But just adding them, giving them some focus of course, but don't forget that the main characters are already there. Anyway, this is my first story and I just hope that you guys enjoy it if you decide to give it a chance.

**Chapter 1: Beginning of Journey**

The day finally arrived for her to start her journey in the Laguna region. She was thinking about how her very first partner was going to be like while she was preparing herself to go to Professor Cole's lab. Already wearing a black sleeveless dress that almost reached her knees and matching black boots with her hair down, she puts on a gray backpack and while leaving, she speaks to her mom with an expression of excitement on her face.

"I'm going mom, bye!"

"Wait!" her mom said.

"What?"

"You didn't give mom a hug."

Her mom quickly grabs her by her right arm and gives her a big hug.

"Mom, I need to go or else I'm going to be late for my first Pokémon!"

"Ok, ok, but please take care Jennifer," she said while letting go of her and watching her leave to her first Pokémon journey. "I'm going to miss her a lot, even though she's thirteen already, I'm still worried," she said to herself.

In the meantime, Jennifer's running to the professor's lab while being excited and happy. Once she arrives to the lab she sighs out of relief.

"I'm finally here and right on time".

As she arrives to her destination, she looks around and realizes that the lab is surrounded by lots of trees. Right at that moment, the Professor appears telling her to follow him to the lab while asking her…

"You're the first one to arrive. What's your name?"

"My name is Jennifer, Jennifer Snow," she said gently while being a little surprised at what he said.

"Glad to meet you, Jennifer. I'm Professor Cole and I'll be showing you the Pokémon I have for you to choose."

As they both enter the lab, the professor starts showing her the Pokémon.

"These right here are the fire-types Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, and Tepig."

"Wow, they look really energetic!" Jennifer said.

"Indeed, they are. The following are the water-types: Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip, Piplup, and Oshawott."

"Oh my, this is going to be a really hard decision since I can only choose one," Jennifer said.

"It'll sure be, but be sure to make the wisest decision; I still have to show you the grass-type Pokémon which are Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Treecko, Turtwig, and Snivy."

"Now that you showed me the Pokémon, I know I want a grass-type Pokémon, but which one should I choose? Between Snivy and Chikorita I think I want… Ok, I made my decision now I know which one I want. My partner will be you Chikorita; you look very strong and cute of course," she said that last part while smiling.

As she makes the decision Chikorita gets really excited and jumps to Jennifer's arms.

"Oh, it seems you two are going to get along quickly. Now Jennifer take these Poké balls and this pokédex so that you can start your journey, and also don't forget to keep in contact, for me to know what Pokémon you've caught."

"Thank you so much Professor Cole, I sure won't forget. Goodbye!"

While Jennifer leaves Professor Cole's lab with a confident expression on her face, she looks at Chikorita's Poké ball.

"This is where our journey begins Chikorita; we're going to be the best."

She keeps walking a little bit more in search for Pokémon to train and capture, and suddenly she hears a guy's voice.

"Hold it right there!"

She stopped walking and looked back to see if someone was talking to her, and so it was. A guy was looking at her with a determined expression on his face.

"Yes, I'm talking to you," the guy said.

"Who are you?" Jennifer said.

"I'm Kyle, Kyle Black and I want to have my first Pokémon battle with you."

"Really? Well that's just perfect; I was just looking for some training, let's get started, come on out Chikorita!" she says while throwing her Poké Ball, which at the same time, a bright white light came from the Poké ball down to the floor taking the form of Chikorita.

"So you chose Chikorita, now take a look at mine. Bulbasaur, go!" he said as he threw a Poké Ball.

"What, you chose a grass-type too? Well, this is going to be interesting. The first move is mine, Chikorita use razor leaf!"

Chikorita starts to throw leaves at Bulbasaur by making the leaf on its head spin.

"Bulbasaur, deflect it with vine whip and then use tackle!"

Bulbasaur then takes out green whips from the sides of the bulb on its back to deflect the leaves. After deflecting razor leaf, Bulbasaur launches itself against Chikorita to hit it, and as it does, Chikorita gets thrown to the floor. Kyle then has a confident expression on his face, but so does Jennifer, who says as Chikorita stands up.

"Don't get so confident, I'm not finished yet. Chikorita jump and use razor leaf again!"

"Bulbasaur, dodge it!"

Bulbasaur moves to the side to dodge the attack and right when it does, Chikorita descends.

"Not so fast, Chikorita tackle now!"

Bulbasaur then isn't able to dodge and gets hit by Chikorita's tackle causing it to fall backwards.

"Bulbasaur!" Kyle yells.

"I told you not to get confident, now Chikorita finish it with razor leaf!"

Smoke is created by Chikorita's razor leaf and now both trainers are waiting for it to disappear, and when it does it shows that Bulbasaur has fainted.

"The victory is mine! That was great Chikorita, now return," she says while holding Chikorita's Poké ball, from where it came a strange red light directed at Chikorita and returned it to it.

"Bulbasaur, are you ok?" Kyle said

"Be sure to take it to a Pokémon Center. You gave me an entertaining first battle, I hope we meet again," Jennifer said

"Yeah, and be prepared because I'm going to win next time!" Kyle says as he returns Bulbasaur to its Poké ball and starts to run.

"I'll be looking forward to that, and don't worry, I'll be prepared." Jennifer said.

With the battle settled, Jennifer continues to look for Pokémon in the same direction while being very excited due to winning her first Pokémon battle. As she looks for Pokémon, she's getting near a small tunnel that leads to the next city that's across a river. When she's about to enter the small tunnel, she notices that right next to the tunnel there's a flying Pokémon on top of a tree. This makes her get curious so she takes out her pokédex; the pokédex then says that is Tailow. Once having knowledge of what Pokémon she's seeing, she gets serious.

"So Tailow it is. That Pokémon is mine," she said while letting Chikorita out of the Poké Ball. "Chikorita attack Tailow with razor leaf!"

As Chikorita's razor leaf hits, Tailow gets furious and starts attacking Chikorita with peck.

"Chikorita, dodge it! Now while Tailow is near the ground, use tackle."

Tailow dodges Chikorita's tackle and counterattacks with gust. Chikorita gets hit and now stands trembling.

"We're at a disadvantage, but we won't let that get in our way! Chikorita use razor leaf at Tailow's wings."

Tailow gets hit and is now trying to fly away but can't due to its wings being hurt by Chikorita.

"Now's our chance Chikorita, use tackle!

Tailow tries to dodge it but fails in its attempt and now lies on the floor while being unconscious. Jennifer then looks at Tailow.

"That's it; you're mine Tailow, go Poké Ball!"

Tailow's been drawn by the Poké ball and now Jennifer is watching the Poké Ball move from side to side while hoping to be successful in catching Tailow. Suddenly the Poké Ball stopped moving, making Jennifer really happy.

"I did it! I have a Tailow now, all thanks to you Chikorita; now take a good rest until we reach a Pokémon Center," she said while taking her Poké Ball out."

"Chiko, Chiko," Chikorita agreed while being happy and a little tired as it went inside the Poké Ball."

Jennifer now heads to the nearest Pokémon Center, which is located at the left side of the end of the small tunnel that she was heading to before the battle with Kyle, whom took that same direction to heal his Bulbasaur not too long ago. Once she gets out of the tunnel, she sees the Pokémon Center and a river in front of it that leads to Ryoton City. In the coast of the river, there is a fisher man on a boat, and he is the one that takes people to the other side of the river. Jennifer now enters the Pokémon Center and gives the Pokémon to a woman.

"My pokémons are in bad shape, I need you to heal them," Jennifer said.

"Well that's why I'm here for, I'm Nurse Joy and these are my assistants Chansey and Audino. What's your name?" the woman said smiling while taking the Poké balls.

"I'm Jennifer and I'm just starting my journey. Chansey and Audino you say?" she said while using the Pokédex.

"Glad to meet you. Yes, you shall see them at every Pokémon Center you head to. You see, these Pokémon are very helpful in our jobs," Nurse Joy said as she handed the Poké balls to Audino and Chansey.

Chansey and Audino then go to the back door of the counter as they talk.

"It must be great to have them as assistants; I'll be waiting at the entrance," Jennifer said.

"Yes it is, but you can take a seat right here," Nurse Joy said while pointing at a sofa inside the Pokémon Center.

"Oh, thanks."

Jennifer sat down on the sofa, waiting for her Pokémon to be healed. Not too long after that, Nurse Joy calls her.

"Jennifer, your Pokémon are in good condition now"

"That was fast, thank you so much Nurse Joy!"

"No problem," Nurse Joy said while smiling.

With Chikorita and Tailow now healed, she walks out of the Pokémon Center straight towards the fisher man's boat, to head to Ryoton City, where she'll be battling for her first Gym Badge.

"Hey, I want to go to Ryoton City, would you take me there?" Jennifer asked.

"Of course, get on board," the fisher man answered.

"Awesome, I'll be there in no time thanks to you."

Meanwhile in Ryoton City, a trio consisting of a woman, a man, and a cat-like Pokémon are in what seems to be a hideout. The woman has long red hair, a short blue shirt with a capital red **r** on the middle of it, a short blue skirt and long black boots. The man is dressed all blue as well with the capital red **r **on the shirt, but wearing long pants, has black boots, but shorter, and has short light blue hair. The cat-like Pokémon is wearing a blue cloak and dark sunglasses.

"If the rumors are true, this Laguna region is going to be quite interesting. They say that you can find almost any Pokémon in here due to it being constantly visited by Pokémon trainers from other regions," the woman said with a serious voice.

"Not only that, I also heard that once they were going to have a Pokémon exhibition, so a cargo plane came full with wild Pokémon from different regions," the man said.

"Indeed, but an accident happened when they were going to leave, the back door wasn't completely shut, and right after the plane ascended, the door opened and the cages with Pokémon inside fell. The cages broke due to the impact and the Pokémon broke free, most of them weren't recovered. This is why we're here, to catch those Pokémon and all of the others," the cat-like Pokémon stated.

"Now we shall start on what we came here for," the woman said

Jennifer has just arrived to the other side of the river. She's standing in front of it while facing towards the big city. From her point of view, you see lots of buildings, and from far away you can see the Pokémon Center of the city due to the size of the building. Jennifer takes out one of her Poké balls from one of the side pockets of her backpack and has a determined look on her face.

"Alright, the time has arrived, come on out Chikorita!" Jennifer said.

After that, Jennifer starts to walk with Chikorita towards the city and once she sets foot on it, Chikorita suddenly gets caught by a net that came from the sky.

"Chikorita!" Jennifer yells while being shocked.

Jennifer now looks upward, in the direction that Chikorita had been drawn to and sees that on top of a building there is a woman, a man on the woman's right and a cat-like Pokémon between them.

"Hey, give me back my Chikorita!" Jennifer yelled.

"Like we're going to do that. If you want it back, you'll have to fight for it," the man said to Jennifer.

"Just give it back!" Jennifer said.

"Oh my, isn't she disrespectful? Let us introduce ourselves first. Now prepare for trouble! the woman said.

"Make it double," the man said.

"To protect the world from devastation," the woman said.

"To unite all people within our nation," the man said.

"To denounce the evil of truth and love," the woman said.

"To extend our reach to the stars above," the man said.

"Jessie!" the woman said.

"James!" the man said.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Jessie said.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" James said.

"Meowth, that's right!" the cat-like Pokémon said.

Will Jennifer be able to get her Chikorita back from Team Rocket? Or will she fail in her attempt?

To be continued…

**Character descriptions:**

Jennifer – Age 13, has fair skin, dark brown eyes, long light brown curly hair and she is 5'4".

Jennifer's mom (Sally) – Age 36, has light tan skin, long black hair tied in a pony tail, light brown eyes and she is 5'8".

Kyle – Age 13, has fair skin, black spiked up hair, blue eyes and he is 5'4".

Professor Cole – Age 28, has fair skin, brown eyes, bald and he is 5'8".

**Author's statement:**

Ok, first chapter done! I really hope that you guys enjoyed it, because even if is not that great for you, I tried my best and it took me quite some time. After all it's the first time I've written something and I'll gladly receive any constructive critics. Please leave reviews to know if I should keep this up because I still don't know. Oh and thank you for reading.


	2. The Troublesome Team Rocket

**Pokémon Laguna Region: Jennifer's Quest**

**Author: Kevin Rivera**

At first I was just writing this story for the hell of it, but now I'm going to put some more effort into it since I posted it already and was assured that it could turn out to be good with some more work. This story is going to take some time for me to finish because I'm not the type of guy that spends time on one single thing all day but let's see how it goes on, enjoy!

**Chapter 2: The Troublesome Team Rocket**

Team Rocket has just finished their motto and with a hold of Jennifer's Chikorita, they stand on top of the building before her.

"Ok… And I thought the world couldn't get any weirder," Jennifer said.

"Are you making fun of us, the amazing Team Rocket? Jessie said.

"You're going to regret that," James said.

"Guys, we have no need to be here anymore, forget about her" Meowth said to Jessie and James.

"He's right Jessie, let's go," James says after realizing that what Meowth said is true.

"Alright, alright," Jessie responded with an annoyed tone to James and Meowth.

With that said Team Rocket turns around intending to leave.

"You're not going anywhere with my Chikorita," Jennifer says while taking out her other Poké ball. "It is all up to you now Tailow, go!" she said while throwing the Poké ball.

"It seems we can't leave so easily, I'll take care of her!" Jessie said while throwing a Poké ball and jumping off the roof. "Woobat use air slash!"

Woobat starts flapping its wings as it gets out of the Poké ball and attacks creating shuriken-like objects out of the wind.

"Tailow dodge it!"

Tailow quickly dodges the air slash by flying to the side.

"Now use peck!" Jennifer said.

Tailow hits Woobat with peck but doesn't do much damage. Jennifer then takes out her Pokédex.

"Does Tailow have anymore attacks?" Jennifer asked to herself while using the Pokédex.

The Pokédex is now giving Tailow's description and says that Tailow has peck, wing attack, and quick attack.

"Woobat use gust!" Jessie said.

"Tailow no! Jennifer yelled.

Tailow gets thrown away by the gust and lands on the floor.

"I'm sorry Tailow, I got distracted for a second there," Jennifer said. "Now forget about Woobat and use peck on the net that the guy is holding! It seems I was fine with peck," she then says as she realizes.

"What? You're not done with me!" Jessie yells at Jennifer.

Both James and Meowth get shocked by seen Tailow flying towards them. James now intends to throw a Poké ball with his right hand but at that time Tailow passes by him and slices the net open, freeing Chikorita off the net.

"Chikorita!" Jennifer said while running to catch Chikorita.

Just when Chikorita was about to touch the ground, Jennifer threw herself to the ground and catched it in her arms. Then she stood up and returned Chikorita and Tailow to their Poké balls and started to run away.

"Don't let her escape!" Meowth said to Jessie and James.

"We know Meowth, we know," both Jessie and James answered.

As they said that, James takes a Poké ball out. Just when he is about to throw it, they all realize that a woman is coming at full speed on a motorcycle. She then stops the motorcycle in the middle of the scene, and as she gets off of it, she takes some of her light blue curly hair out of her face and fixes her cap with her left hand. Then she takes a Poké ball out of her side purse with her right hand and stands in front of Team Rocket with a serious expression. Just when Jennifer notices the woman she decides to stop running.

"The Police!" Team Rocket yelled.

"Let's retreat for now!" James said.

"Damn her! She got lucky, but that won't happen again," Jessie said.

With that said, Team Rocket intends to retreat again.

"You won't escape!" the woman yelled to Team Rocket.

"Don't worry about them, I have my Chikorita back now and that's all it matters," Jennifer said.

Jessie runs to the back of the building and so do James and Meowth at the roof. Quickly after that a hot air balloon of Meowth ascends to the sky. Jennifer and the woman are then looking towards it as it flies away.

"I guess you're right, I can catch them later." the woman said.

"By the way, they said that you're a police officer, right?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, I'm Officer Jenny, the police officer of this city, and you?"

"I'm Jennifer Snow, glad to meet you and thank you so much for saving me, you got here right on time," she says while smiling.

"You're very welcome. Do you need anything else?"

"I don't, but thanks. I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader and since this town is not that big, then it's fine."

"Alright then, I take my leave now," Officer Jenny says while getting on her motorcycle.

After Officer Jenny gets on her motorcycle, she turns it on and starts to accelerate towards the city.

"Good bye, Officer Jenny!" she says while watching her leave.

Soon after Officer Jenny leaves, Jennifer begins to wander through the surroundings of the city. She then finds herself later in front of a display of fishing rods that's next to a guy, wearing a cap. She then full of curiosity approaches the guy that's next to the fishing rods.

"Hey, are you selling those fishing rods or something? Jennifer asked to the guy.

"No, actually I'm giving them, but only to those who are starting off their journey today. I heard of today and decided to give a little gift of my part for them to start off decently," the guy said and as he did, he smiled.

"Then this must be my lucky day, I'm just starting my journey too,"

"Alright, but before I give it to you I need to have a look on your Pokédex."

"Yeah, sure," she said while taking it out of her backpack. "Here," she says while handing the Pokédex to the guy.

"Hmm… So far you've only seen two Pokémon, meaning you're really starting," The guy says while returning the Pokédex to Jennifer with his left hand and extending his right hand to the fishing rods' display.

As Jennifer took her Pokédex back, the guy took a purple fishing rod out of the display and gave it to Jennifer.

"_I don't really like purple, but since it's free I won't complain_," she thought while faking a smile. "Thank you so much mister, you got one of my favorite colors. _Yeah right,_" She thought.

"It seems I'm good at guessing."

"_Not even close._ So it seems," Jennifer says after her thought. "I'll try it out sometime soon. Goodbye!" she says while walking away and waving her hand.

"Alright, wish you luck on your journey!"

With her brand new fishing rod, she heads to the river to try it out and see if she can catch any new Pokémon before her first Gym battle.

"I should have told the guy I don't know anything about fishing," she says and then lets out a small sigh. "I guess I'll have to learn by myself," she says while approaching to the river.

Once in front of the river, Jennifer takes out her fishing rod from her backpack and unfolds it. She then looks at it with curiosity from side to side to try to figure out how to use it. While she's busy with that, a guy is looking at her with a worried expression and as he does, a sweat drop appears on the back of his blue short hair. He then puts his left hand on the back of his head and starts to walk towards Jennifer.

"You having a hard time there?" the guy asked.

"Umm… Yeah, I am," she accepts after trying to hide it.

"Can I help you then?"

"Sure, why not?" Jennifer says while lending him the rod.

"Alright, pay attention," the guy said with hold of the rod. "I'll teach you the overhead cast, because that's the one I most use and like. Now, let's begin!"

The guy holds the rod firmly with both hands, then lifts the line over his right shoulder to get a good impulse and throws it to the water.

"That simple thing I did there was the overhead cast," the guy said to Jennifer.

"Really? Then I guess it's not that complicated," Jennifer said.

"Yeah, it's not. Although you do realize you need a bait, right?" the guy says while lifting the rod from the water and giggling.

"Oh right, I forgot. Wait, are you making fun of me, mister?"

"No, not at all, I'm just making a point, but I prefer you call me by Ryan, not mister," he said.

"Well, you didn't tell me your name. What was I supposed to do?"

"You can always ask, but let's not worry about that now. What about yourself, like your name, your dream?" Ryan asks Jennifer while putting bait on the hook of the rod.

"Umm… I'm Jennifer Snow, and I'm going in this Pokémon journey to learn all about them, to challenge multiple trainers, Gym Leaders and the Laguna League along the way. Doing so, eventually I'll become a Pokémon Master."

"That's awesome; you and I have something in common then." Ryan says while slightly smiling as he throws the rod to the water again.

"Really?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah, even though my goal is to become a Gym Leader of water-type Pokémon, I want to travel to learn as much as I can before achieving that goal. And even if I can't be a Gym Leader in this region, I'm up to traveling to other regions," he says while winding the reel slowly.

"Wow! I would like to see your success. What do you say about us traveling together?" she asks while watching him wind the reel.

"I think that would be a g-whoa a bite!"

"A bite?"

"Yes, and since I wasn't paying attention, it got me off guard. Let's wait until it takes a better bite," Ryan says while holding the rod firmly. Quickly after that, he feels the rod move. "Now!"

Ryan lifts up the rod from the water and a white and pink fish-like Pokémon is revealed as it pierces the clear water with its small horn. Then as it lands next to them, it starts to splash a lot.

"There it is Jennifer!" He then puts the rod on the ground.

"Alright, use the Pokédex for me," Jennifer says while handing it to him. She then throws a Poké ball. "This will be easy Chikorita, just attack with razor leaf to weaken it," she says as the Poké ball opens.

"Chiko, Chiko!" Chikorita makes its leaf spin; creating more leafs off of it.

"It's a Goldeen," Ryan said to Jennifer.

Goldeen was still splashing on the ground, but getting near the water. Just when razor leaf was about to hit it, Goldeen made his way into the surface of the water and it's now staring at Chikorita.

"No! Just great, now what am I going to do? Jennifer says.

"I can help-" Ryan gets interrupted.

"Chiko, Chikorita!"

"Huh? Are you saying you can do it? Alright, I'll leave it to you," Jennifer says to Chikorita.

Chikorita then starts to take out green whips from its green spots below its neck to try to catch Goldeen back.

"I didn't know Chikorita had vine whip," Jennifer says to herself.

"Goldeen, Goldeen," Goldeen starts to dodge Chikorita's attacks.

"Chiko!"

"Didn't you know that vine whip is one of the grass-types basic moves?" Ryan asks Jennifer.

"No. Was I supposed to?"

"Umm… Yeah you were,but let's pay attention to Chikorita and Goldeen now," he says as he slightly laughs.

"Yeah, you're right."

While Jennifer and Ryan were talking, Goldeen was still dodging Chikorita's attacks like if it was a game due to it being in the water. Just when Jennifer and Ryan looked, Chikorita had finally catched it with vine whip and was holding it in the air.

"Yes, you have it Chikorita! Jennifer yelled.

Jennifer's yelling startles Chikorita, making it let go of Goldeen.

"Oh no!" Jennifer says while watching Goldeen submerge under the water.

"You scared the poor Chikorita, what did you expect?" Ryan asks.

"I know, I screwed up!" Jennifer said.

As they both discuss, Chikorita is in front of them shaking its head with an expression of disappointment on its face. Not long after that, both of them are walking through the city while talking.

"So, after failing in catching a Goldeen, where are you headed to?" Ryan says as he laughs.

"Hey!"

"It's ok, I was just kidding. But seriously, where are you going now?"

"I'm going to challenge the Gym Leader of this city."

"You're going to challenge a fire-type Pokémon Gym Leader with your Chikorita?" Ryan asked while being surprised.

"This Gym is of fire Pokémon?"

"Yes, it is. You should catch at least one water-type Pokémon or any other that's effective against fire types before challenging the leader.

"Well I have a Tailow too," she says.

"That's good, but I still think you should get another Pokémon."

"But where? We're in the city; we won't find anything here unless we try fishing again or leave the city going straight ahead.

"Umm… I guess you're right." Ryan says, but then makes an expression of realization. "But, now that I think about it, I can lend you a Pokémon of mine if you want.

"That sounds great! I really don't know what I would have done without you right now," she says.

"Alright, then let's go!" Ryan says.

With that said, Jennifer and Ryan are now on their way to Jennifer's first Gym battle. While walking throughout the city, they pass by the big Pokémon Center and are now approaching the Gym that is about three buildings away, which is almost the same size as the Pokémon Center. Once they get to the front of it, they knock on its big doors. Not long after, the big doors begin to open and as they do, the shadow of a man is revealed.

To be continued…

Character Descriptions:

Ryan Braxton – Age 14, has fair skin, light green eyes, light blue straight short hair and he is 5'5".


	3. A Fiery Encounter!

**Pokémon Laguna Region: Jennifer's Quest**

**Author: Kevin Rivera**

**Chapter 3: A Fiery Encounter!**

The man who was revealed as the Gym doors opened is wearing a red button shirt and black long pants with a black cap over his brown hair. He stands in front of Jennifer and Ryan as a Gym Director.

"You guys here to challenge the Gym Leader?" The man asked.

"Only me, Jennifer from Woodstone Town," she answered with an excited expression.

"Alright, follow me," the man said while turning back and then leading them through a hallway, which at the end of it, there is another double door.

As they got near it, the door opened automatically, revealing a big square battlefield with a crystal roof. Kyle was in the middle of it receiving his Gym badge from the Gym Leader, a guy wearing a red and orange cap backwards with straight blonde short hair.

"He beat the Gym Leader already?" Jennifer asked to herself out loud.

"Do you know him?" Ryan asked her.

"I do, he's the first and only trainer I've battled when I got my Chikorita, besides getting in trouble with some guys called Team Rocket."

Kyle turned back to leave at the same time Jennifer entered the battlefield and saw her.

"Look who's here! You're a little late, don't you think?" Kyle asked.

"So, is there a problem?!"

"Not at all, just saying…" Kyle said with a proud expression as he passed by her while smiling.

"Hmph! Acting as if he is a big deal."

"Calm down, don't let it bother you," Ryan said while looking at Jennifer.

"I know, but still."

Once Kyle left the battlefield, Jennifer and Ryan go to the Gym Leader and the Gym Director turns back and leaves to where they came from.

"I'm here to challenge you to a Gym battle!" Jennifer says to the Gym Leader while being happy.

"I'm sorry, I can't battle you now. My Pokémon need to rest, you'll have to come tomorrow." The Gym Leader replied with a plain expression reflected by his blue eyes while having his hands in the pockets of his red unzipped jacket, showing a black shirt under it that matched his jeans. He then walks pass Jennifer and Ryan.

"Seriously? I need to wait until tomorrow to have my battle?!" She asked to herself and then looked at Ryan with a disappointed expression.

"Well, it's pretty late too, so we should go and take a room at the Pokémon Center before night.

"I guess…" Jennifer said while still being disappointed and walking with Ryan out of the Gym.

"Come on, it's not a big deal; we'll just go right after we wake up tomorrow. Don't worry."

Since the Pokémon Center is just three buildings away from the Gym, they get to it quickly and walk to the counter. Ryan then rings a bell that's on it, and not long after, Nurse Joy comes from the back door of the counter.

"I see you again Jennifer! In what can I help you guys?" Nurse Joy asks them with a happy expression.

"Hey, we need a room to stay for the night and came here to see if there's one for us."

"Of course there is, follow me." Nurse joy said as she got out of the counter through a small door and leading them to another door next to the counter.

Through the door, there was a long hallway with rooms at the sides. Jennifer and Ryan followed Nurse Joy to almost half of the hallway.

"You two can stay here," Nurse Joy said to the both of them while opening a door for them.

"Thanks Nurse Joy!" Ryan and Jennifer said at the same time.

"Alright, have a good night!" Nurse Joy replied and then turned back to leave.

Ryan and Jennifer then enter the room and see two separate beds at each side of the room. Ryan goes to the left one and Jennifer to the right one. They then both sit on them while facing each other and talking.

"I can't wait for tomorrow!" Jennifer said excitedly.

"That reminds me; I was supposed to lend you my Pokémon earlier for the battle," he says as he takes a small black backpack off of his back and opens it.

"Oh right, I completely forgot!"

"Here it is," Ryan says as he takes out a Poké ball out of the backpack. "Marill, come on out!" he says as the Poké ball grows in his right hand and then opens letting a blinding white light out, taking the form of a pink hippopotamus/salamander-like Pokémon. "Wait! That's not the one, return!" The Poké ball he's holding returns it with the red beam. He then puts it in the backpack as he looks for the one he wanted.

"What Pokémon was that?" Jennifer asked.

"Uh… Forget it; it's just a weird Pokémon of mine."

"Alright, I won't ask for now, but I sure won't forget."

Ryan then takes another Poké ball out. "This is the one, go Marill!" After the Poké ball grows in his hand and opens, the white light comes down to the floor in the form of a blue, almost spherical shape mouse-like Pokémon with a white underside. Its arms and feet are short, and it has a zigzagging tail with a blue "bubble" on the end of it.

"It's so cool!" Jennifer says as she looks at the happy looking Pokémon.

"And it's fierce in battle too," Ryan says.

Jennifer then takes off her backpack and puts it next to her to take out the Pokédex from the left side pocket. "Let's see what it's capable off," she says while pointing the Pokédex at Marill.

The Pokédex starts giving the description of Marill out loud with a robotic tone. "Marill, the aqua mouse Pokémon. Let alone its excellent sense of hearing, it has a water-repellent fur that gives it incredible speed when swimming."

"Impressive. Now, let's see the attacks."

"Water gun, rollout, tackle and defense curl," The Pokédex said.

"I can tell why you said it's fierce in battle," she says while being surprised.

"Yeah, you should check your Pokémon too before the battle tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, I need to check both of them."

After checking her two Pokémon, Ryan and Jennifer lie down on their beds and fall asleep quickly. The night then passed by, and morning came waking them up with sparkly rays of sunlight coming through the crystal clear window down to their faces, making them frown a little as they yawned and stretched out their arms.

"Good morning!" Ryan said to Jennifer while smiling a little.

"Good morning," Jennifer replied.

"You hungry?"

"Yeah, I definitely need to eat something before the Gym battle."

"Well, then let's go eat something. I'll treat," Ryan said.

"Alright."

Before noon, they were finishing eating some pancakes at a Cafeteria next to the Pokémon Center and then both of them head out to the Gym. Jennifer now stands on the challenger's side of the battlefield and Ryan is sitting on the first row of a five row bleacher right next to the battlefield waiting for the battle to start.

"I'll show you the Pokémon I'll be using in this battle," the Gym Leader says to Jennifer as he takes out one Poké ball from the left inside pocket of his jacket and one from the right one. Both poke balls grow bigger in his hands and he then lets his Pokémon out. The white light that came from the Poké ball on his left hand took form of a brown fox-like Pokémon with six tails and the other in his right hand of a yellow and orange Young Fowl-like Pokémon standing in two legs. Both of his Pokémon looked ready to battle at anytime.

"What Pokémon are those?" Jennifer said as she saw the Pokémon and looked for her Pokédex on the left side pocket of her backpack. She then pointed it at the fox-like Pokémon.

"Vulpix, the fire-type fox Pokémon. Usually a Pokémon with a friendly temperament if not spoiled. Besides using fire-type moves, this Pokémon is able to learn some ghost-type moves like confuse ray and grudge." Once having knowledge of Vulpix, Jennifer uses the Pokédex on the other Pokémon. "Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokémon. This fire-type Pokémon has three razor-sharp claws at the end of its arms, bulging thighs that seems big compared to its body, and gray-colored legs that are capable of devastating kicks. Combined with its speed, double kick is one of its best moves."

"Vulpix will be my first Pokémon!" The Gym Leader said to Jennifer while pointing at Vulpix. "Combusken, return!" The Poké ball he held in his right hand returned Combusken with the red beam.

Jennifer then takes out a Poké ball from the right pocket of her backpack and throws it. "I made my choice too, go Marill!" The aqua mouse came out from the Poké ball looking determined.

"Interesting, she's using my Pokémon first." Ryan said to himself. He then thinks to himself. "I wonder who will be her next choice."

Right after that, a man with black short hair, who is the referee, enters through a door next to the bleachers to stop right next to the battlefield and speaks up.

"The Ryoton two on two Gym battle between Joey, the Gym Leader, and Jennifer, the challenger from Woodstone Town, is about to begin. The challenger has the first move and also will be the only one allowed to switch Pokémon. The battle will be decided when a trainer's both Pokémon are unable to continue. Let the battle begin!" The referee raised both of his hands as he said that last part showing his red button shirt falling down his black long pants.

"Alright, this is it! Marill use tackle!" Jennifer ordered Marill to attack.

Marill started to run towards Vulpix and quickly lunged itself against it in a sideways position.

"Vulpix, jump out of the way and use fire spin on Marill!" Joey commanded.

"Vul-pix!" Vulpix cried out loud as if agreeing.

Vulpix jumps to the right to dodge Marill's attack and while in mid-air, its eyes glow red as it starts releasing red-orange spiraling flames from its mouth, trapping Marill in a fiery tornado. Once Vulpix touches ground again, Joey speaks up.

"Now, use dig while Marill isn't able to move!"

"Marill!" Jennifer yells while being worried.

Vulpix starts digging with its paws, and quickly goes underground.

"Jennifer, be careful! Vulpix can come out from anywhere." Ryan warned Jennifer from the bleachers.

"I know! But if I use something like water gun, it'll be too late to dodge!" After answering back to Ryan, Jennifers makes an expression of realization. "I got it, it's not going to be much, but here it goes! Marill, use defense curl!"

Marill curls itself into a ball to conceal its weak spots while being surrounded by the burning flames. Right after doing so, Vulpix emerges from the ground right through the fiery tornado sending Marill flying back towards Jennifer with the impact. Marill falls to the ground, but quickly stands up to face Vulpix like nothing happened.

"I must say that was quite impressive, very few Pokémon get out of that combination with so little damage," Joey said to Jennifer while being slightly surprised. "Even water Pokémon like that one."

"Marill, use water gun!"

Marill inhales and then opens its mouth to shoot out a blast of water towards Vulpix.

"Vulpix, dodge it while using quick attack!"

Just when the water gun is about to hit, Vulpix dodges it at an amazing speed. Marill then keeps constantly attacking with water gun, but each time that it's about to hit, Vulpix disappears and then reappears at a more close distance. Once it was getting close enough to Marill, Jennifer yells with a commanding tone.

"Marill, time to counter-attack with rollout!"

"Ma-rill!" Marill agreed to Jennifer's command.

Marill jumps and in mid-air curls itself into a ball, but this time making itself roll quickly towards Vulpix as it falls down. Vulpix couldn't stop itself from attacking and got hit by Marill's rollout, which hit so hard that sent it flying towards the side. Marill then stopped rolling and turned to face Vulpix again.

"Vulpix! Get up!" Joey ordered.

Vulpix struggled to get back up from the ground due to taking a direct hit.

"Now use your flamethrower attack!"

"Marill, water gun!"

Marill's water gun and Vulpix's flamethrower collide with each other in the middle of the battlefield, both dissipating in contact and creating a little steam. Vulpix looked even more tired after releasing its flames, breathing rapidly in short gasps.

"Use water gun again while it's tired!" Jennifer said.

The water gun attack hit and pushed back Vulpix before it had any chance of moving.

"Just a little more Vulpix, use quick attack!"

After shaking off the water from itself, Vulpix quickly runs straight towards Marill, but not as fast as the first time. The running Vulpix then gets close enough to hit Marill, who looked prepared to counter-attack, but suddenly collapses and falls to the ground right in front of Marill.

"Vulpix is unable to battle, Marill wins!" The referee announces and then lifts up his arm towards Jennifer's side.

"Vulpix, return!" Joey held a Poké ball in his left hand with the red beam returning Vulpix to it. He then put it in the left inside pocket of his jacket and took Combusken's one from the right one. "Combusken, let's go!" Joey said as he let the Pokémon out of its Poké ball.

"I'll stay with Marill! So, let's get this started. Marill use water gun!"

Marill started to squirt water to attack and without Joey having to say anything; Combusken dodges the attack and runs towards Marill.

"Now use slash!" Joey ordered.

As Combusken reaches Marill, its claws began to glow bright white before landing a slash, making it fall backwards. Marill then got up while trembling.

"You can do it Marill! Tackle it!" As Jennifer orders, Marill dashes towards Combusken.

Combusken keeps dodging every single tackle from Marill without any effort.

"Now water gun!"

This took Joey and Combusken off guard, and the water gun made a direct hit. Combusken then shakes off the water and gives Marill an angry look.

"Enough playing around, Combusken use double kick!"

Combusken then ran towards Marill and while in a sideways position, it started kicking Marill repeatedly with its left foot as if it was landing five hits per second. Combusken then stopped for a moment, but only to strike back with its right foot, making Marill fall back again.

"That's contradicting. Isn't double kick supposed to only be two kicks?" Ryan asked to himself.

"Now finish it with flamethrower!"As Joey ordered, Combusken shoots out from its beak a spiraling red-orange stream of fire at Marill, which when it hit created some smoke.

The smoke cleared quickly, revealing a fainted Marill on the ground.

"Marill is unable to continue, Combusken wins!" The referee said.

"Marill, return." Jennifer returns Marill to its Poké ball. "You did more than great," she says while putting the Poké ball in the right pocket of her backpack and taking another one out. "This is it, Tailow go!"

Tailow gets out of the Poké ball, already flapping its white and dark blue wings in the air, letting Jennifer know it's ready for anything.

"Tai-low!" Tailow cried towards Combusken.

"Take flight!" As Jennifer ordered, Tailow flew up at a good distance away from Combusken. "Now dive down and use peck," Tailow then dived down at Combusken and pecked it with its now glowing beak. It happened so fast that Tailow flew pass Combusken without being harmed by it. "Fly up again and use quick attack!" Tailow then flew up again.

"Combusken, concentrate on Tailow!" Joey ordered.

Tailow then starts diving down quickly while the end of its wings creating white trails.

Just when Tailow landed the hit, Joey spoke. "Now grab it by its talons and use flamethrower!" Combusken took Tailow by its talons as Joey said. Tailow was trying to get off of Combusken's grasp by flapping its wings to fly away, but the effort was futile, before it could get away, Combusken fired at Tailow the stream of fire from its beak. Tailow then fell to the ground, but was quickly trying to get up.

Jennifer is looking at the floor as she proudly smiles and then looks up at Joey.

"You'll need to do better than that to defeat Tailow. As you can see, Tailow is a Pokémon that never gives up, no matter how strong its opponent is and no matter the size of it. Tailow will keep on battling until this is over, it'll give its best until the very end, so prepare yourself!" Jennifer raised her right arm up to the height of her right shoulder as she said that last part. And as she did, Tailow got back up from the ground, flying up near the floor.

"I see you have spirit. Now let's see if you're not all talk, Combusken get ready!"

"Tailow use peck!" Tailow flew straight towards Combusken with its beak glowing again and pecked it repeatedly with its beak. Combusken then was backing up from pain. "Keep it going with quick attack!" As Jennifer ordered, Tailow backed up a bit and flew back at Combusken leaving the white trails behind it. Once the attack hit, Tailow kept attacking back and forth two more times before Combusken could make a move and then prepared to strike once more.

"Combusken, stop him with fire punch!"

Just as Tailow flew back to attack, Combusken's already clenched fist ignites with flames and punches Tailow before it could reach. The hit made Tailow fly back, but before falling to the ground, Tailow shook himself up and continued to flap its wings while in mid-air.

"Now slash!" Joey commanded.

"Tailow, wing attack!" Jennifer yelled.

Combusken's claws started glowing as he ran forward, and so did Tailow's right wing while approaching Combusken. They're attacks both collide as they pass each other by and right after that, Combusken falls unconscious down to the floor while Tailow's standing on the ground facing the other direction.

"Combusken is unable to battle, which means Tailow and the challenger Jennifer are the winners!" The referee announced.

"Combusken, return!" After returning Combusken, Joey put the Poké ball back in his pocket. "You are an outstanding Pokémon trainer; you sure deserve the Flame badge," he said as he took out a small red and orange badge shaped like a flame from his jean's right pocket. He then walked up to her and handed it over to her.

"Yeah, I got my first gym badge!" she yelled while holding up the badge with her left hand.

"Wow, she actually won," Ryan said to himself while walking towards her.

"It was nice meeting you Jennifer. I wish you luck on your journey," Joey said.

"Thanks, it was nice meeting you too!" she replied.

Jennifer turned around to face Ryan and hugged him. She then lets go of him as they walk out of the Gym.

"I'm tired and my shoulders hurt," Jennifer said to Ryan while having an exhausted expression.

"They wouldn't be hurting if you had taken the backpack off earlier."

"Well, I don't have pockets, so I need to have my backpack with me!"

"Then you seriously need to do something about that," he replied as they were passing by the Pokémon Center.

As they continued to walk on their way to exit the city, up on the road they were taking they could see multiple mountains, and beyond them a big forest, which will lead them to their next challenge.

To be continued…

**Author's statement:**

While I was writing this episode I realized I was making the battle a little too long for it to be the first Gym battle, but I decided to leave it like that. I don't know if by making it too long I bored you guys, but if I did, please let me know so I can work on that as well. Also, if you happened to like it, don't expect all the battles to be this long. I just got carried away and wasn't able to stop afterwards.


	4. Battling for the Water Pokémon!

**Pokémon Laguna Region: Jennifer's Quest**

**Author: Kevin Rivera **

**Chapter 4: Battling for the Water Pokémon!**

About an hour had passed since the Gym battle. Both Jennifer and Ryan have just entered the forest they saw in the distance. Surrounded by trees and tall grass they were, even a small lake followed the path they were taking.

"This forest is too big for my taste," Jennifer said to Ryan.

"I don't like being in a forest either, but this is a great opportunity for you to catch some more Pokémon," Ryan replies.

"You have a point," Jennifer says as she sighs and continues walking. "Anyway, do you know our way to Emerald city?"

"Don't worry, if we keep walking straight forward we'll get there eventually. I've been there before.

"Alright, that's good to hear."

Just after saying that, bushes of leaves starts shaking as they walk, and the only one that notices the noise is Jennifer. She turns her head back with a curious expression to see if something was behind them, but as she did, the noise stopped. She then turned her head back to the road.

"Ryan?"

"What?"

"Did you hear that just now?" Jennifer asks Ryan.

"Hear what? What are you talking about?"

"Never mind," she answers Ryan while waving him off. "I must be hearing things."

"I guess. I didn't hear anything, so it's maybe because you don't like forests."

"I hope you're right," As she says that, she hears bushes shaking again and makes a worried expression. "_He must be deaf… I swear! Or am I really hearing things? Oh, I don't even know!" _Jennifer thought while being freaked out. "Umm, Ryan, let's walk a little bit faster please."

"Why? You scared?" Ryan asked back.

"It's not that! Let's just walk faster, ok?!"

"Ok, ok, just calm down!" He then thinks,_ "She's definitely scared!"_

"Thanks."

They start walking faster than before to try to get out of the forest quickly. After being at a good distance from where they were before they slow down a bit, but keep walking forward.

"I can't believe you're making me do this! We're almost running Jennifer."

"We can stop for a while now, I haven't heard it anymore," Jennifer says as she bends forward with her hands on her knees and panting a little bit.

"Finally," Ryan says while he stops walking as well.

"Hey, it's not m-" she gets interrupted by the sudden sound of tall grass moving. "Don't tell me we almost ran for nothing!"

"Look out!" Ryan yells to Jennifer while dragging Jennifer to the ground with him.

As they ducked down, a small white and blue two-footed water-type Pokémon passed right above them while being surrounded by water. After passing by them, it stopped its attack to land on the ground and turned back to stare at them with a serious expression.

"Osha, osha!" The Pokémon yells while fixing a scalchop on its stomach.

"Whoa, that's an Oshawott! That's a rare one to see," Ryan says as he sees the Pokémon and stands up.

Jennifer then gets up while taking her Pokédex out and points it at the Pokémon.

"Oshawott, the sea otter-like Pokémon. Oshawott attacks and defends using the scalchop that can be removed from its stomach. If this Pokémon is attacked, it will fight back without any hesitation," The Pokédex said.

"But we haven't done anything to it," Jennifer said as she put the Pokédex back in the backpack's left pocket.

"Maybe it just likes to fight."

"Maybe… Anyway, I want it!"

"What? No, I want that Pokémon. Remember, who's the water-types' trainer here?

"But I want it too." Jennifer replies to Ryan with a sad expression.

While they talk, Oshawott changes its serious expression to a confused expression as it looks at them.

"Osha!" Oshawott cries out to get their attention, but they don't notice him and keep talking.

"Then let's have a Pokémon battle for it. The winner gets to catch Oshawott!" Ryan says and takes a Poké ball out of his right pocket that grew bigger in his right hand.

"That sounds good to me." Jennifer says while taking out a Poké ball as well from the right pocket of her backpack.

They then turned their backs to each other and walked away to gain distance. As they reached battling distance, they turned around to face each other with determined expressions.

"Let's get this started, go Chikorita!" Chikorita then comes out of Jennifer's Poké ball showing off a battling spirit by shaking the leaf on its head.

"Go Chinchou, show us what you're made of!" Ryan said as he threw his Poké ball into the air.

From the Poké ball Ryan threw, a round, blue fish-like Pokémon with a pair of tiny white fins and two small blue feet appeared. The two antennas positioned on its rear like two tails, which end in a teardrop-shaped orb started flashing bright yellow as if being excited.

"Chin-chou!" The Pokémon cried while giving Chikorita a firm look with its big round eyes that have plus signs as pupils.

"A different Pokémon?" Jennifer asks while taking out her Pokédex again.

"Of course, after all I'm a water-type Pokémon trainer."

"Chinchou, the angler-like Pokémon. This water-type Pokémon has the ability to conduct electrical currents from its two antennas and it's capable of walking on land unlike much of water-type Pokémon."

"Awesome, both water and electric-type! I guess that this won't be as easy as I thought, but don't think I'm giving up!"

"I never expected you to do so. I'll give you the first move."

"Yeah, let's do this! Chikorita, grab a hold of it with vine whip!"

Chikorita lets out the green vines from the spots on its neck and flings them towards Chinchou. Ryan observed as the vines wrapped Chinchou by its antennas with a calm expression.

"That was the worst move you could've done right there."

"What?" Jennifer asked while being confused.

"Watch and learn, Chinchou use spark!"

"Chinchou!" The Pokémon screeched.

Chinchou's wrapped antennas started glowing yellow as soon as Ryan commanded the attack. Suddenly, light blue electricity started coming out of the antennas conducting itself towards Chikorita through its vines.

"Chiko!" Chikorita screeches in pain while letting go of Chinchou.

"Chikorita, you alright?"

"Chiko," Chikorita shakes off the pain and stares at Chinchou to let Jennifer know that it's alright.

"Good. Use you razor leaf!"

"Water gun!"

Chikorita throws spiraling leaves from the now spinning leaf on its head towards Chinchou. And Chinchou counter-attacks by releasing a spiral of water from its mouth. The attacks then collide and begin to dissipate as they do.

"Now confuse ray!"

"Tackle it!"

The orbs of Chinchou's antennas begin to glow purple as Chikorita runs preparing itself to tackle Chinchou. While Chikorita got closer, Chinchou released light purple waves. The waves forced Chikorita to stop running, making it wobbly, looking from side to side while being confused.

"What's happening?" Jennifer asked.

"Chikorita got confused by Chinchou's attack and now it's difficult for it to listen to your commands," Ryan answered. "Chinchou, finish this up with take down!"

"Chikorita, get out!"

Chinchou charges at Chikorita and then slams into it with great force, sending it flying towards Jennifer.

"Chikorita," Jennifer knees down to lift up Chikorita in her arms and then takes out its Poké ball to return it. As the red beam returns it she says, "You did a great job!" She then puts away the Poké ball.

"Umm Jennifer, where's Oshawott?" Ryan asked Jennifer while looking around.

"Wasn't it here just a minute ago?"

"It was!" Ryan answered.

"Osha-wott!"

Oshawott suddenly jumps onto Jennifer's leg from behind and gives Ryan a glare.

"Whoa!" Jennifer gets startled.

"Why is it glaring at me like that?" Ryan asks.

"It seems it doesn't want to go with you. Maybe it wants to be with me…"

"No way! After all that trouble?" Ryan says.

"I'm so lucky!" Jennifer giggles as she takes her backpack off and looks for a Poké ball. "Welcome to my team, Oshawott," she softly throws the Poké ball at it and Oshawott gets absorbed into it happily. The Poké ball fell to the floor and rocked three times before stopping. "I have an Oshawott!" she says while holding up the Poké ball.

"I can't believe it," Ryan mumbled to himself.

They then continued walking, and on the way they saw some bug Pokémon flying up above the tall trees. Sometimes heard rustling from far away, but they didn't want to waste anymore time there and kept walking until soon reached the other side of the forest. From the end of the forest to Emerald City the road was covered in grass and trees, it was like they never really got out of the forest. The only difference was that there were houses on the sides of the road, the majority made of wood, but some of cement.

"Hey, there's the Pokémon Center," Ryan said while pointing to their right.

"Yeah, and there is a Department store right next to it. I want to check it out!" Jennifer said.

"Then I'll go separate a room for us at the Pokémon Center."

"Alright," Jennifer agrees.

They turn to their right and then go separate ways. Ryan enters the Pokémon Center and Jennifer walked to the department store.

"Hey, welcome to Emerald City's Pokémon Center. Can I help you?" Another Nurse Joy asked from the counter.

"Yes, I need a room for two to stay for the night, the name is Ryan."

"Follow me then." She waves at him to come through a door of the completely closed counter and opens the door for him. After letting Ryan in, Nurse Joy opens another door on the back of the counter and they both enter through it.

"Thanks, my friend is coming later; she's at the department store."

"No problem," Nurse Joy said after leading him to an empty room and leaving.

Meanwhile, Jennifer had just paid for some accessories at one of the counters of the department store. She then gives a quick glance at everything on the floor she was in, but didn't seem to get interested by anything and decided to leave. She quickly gets to the Pokémon Center and goes to the counter to speak to Nurse Joy.

"Is Ryan here?"

"Yes, he came not too long ago; you must be his friend, right?" Nurse Joy said.

"Yes."

"Ok, you can come in; he's in the fifth room of the left side."

Jennifer enters through the door of the counter, "Thanks Nurse Joy." She then enters the hallway and goes to the left side fifth room like Nurse Joy said and knocks. "Ryan?"

"Come in," Ryan answers from inside the room.

Jennifer enters the room and closes the door behind her. The room looked just like the other one back in Ryoton City. "I'm back!"

"Did you buy something?" Ryan asks while sitting on the left bed of the room.

"Yeah," Jennifer puts her left hand in front of her in the attempt of counting while she says what she bought. "I bought a badge case, because I remembered I didn't have where to put them, I had thrown mine in my backpack. I bought a fanny pack for my Pokédex and Poké balls, and some medicine for our Pokémon.

"It's good that you care about Pokémon too, that's a good quality. By the way, are you going to challenge the Gym Leader tomorrow?"

"You bet!" Jennifer answers.

"I guess that means you're ready."

"Of course I am," she says with a simplistic tone.

Jennifer then takes off her backpack and put it on the bed on the right side of the room as she sits down. She then takes out the fanny pack from her backpack and takes out the Poké ball and Pokédex to put it in the fanny pack, but stays with one Poké ball in her hand and the Pokédex.

After putting the stuff in the fanny pack, she speaks, "I want to check what moves Oshawott has because I'll use it tomorrow," She lets out Oshawott from its Poké ball and points the Pokédex at it.

"Osha!" Oshawott cried with emotion.

"I love that Pokémon, it looks so adorable. It's so sad it chose you as its trainer," Ryan said while looking disappointed.

"Dude, you need to get over it." She giggles as she points the Poké ball at Oshawott, "Return. I'm going to sleep now, I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too."

They both put their stuff away and go to sleep. The Emerald City Gym challenge awaits.

To be continued…

**Author's statement:**

I know this wasn't as long as the last chapter and that maybe it's not that great, but I didn't know what to write for this one. Thanks to my friend Mikey (Known as **WaivernRiver **here on FFN), I was able to write this episode sooner than expected because he suggested me about Oshawott and the name of the City. Thank you all for reading; let's see how the next chapter is going to be…


	5. Infamous Failures: Return of Team Rocket

**Pokémon Laguna Region: Jennifer's Quest**

**Author: Kevin Rivera**

**Chapter 5: The Infamous Failures: The Return of Team Rocket **

"We can get the boss easily so many Pokémon from this city that he'll finally take us serious," James said to Jessie and Meowth while the three of them traveling on their Meowth balloon above the grassy Emerald City.

"That's right, and we can do that without any worries," Meowth said with a reassuring tone.

"Of course, we don't need to go through any effort of capturing Pokémon. We'll just steal them right away," Jessie says that last part as she clenches her hand covered by a black glove into a fist.

"In fact, why don't we get on with it now?" James asked as he gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, let's hurry and take some of the pathetic Pokémon the Pokémon Center must have," Meowth said.

"I like your spirits, let's get going!" Jessie said.

They slowly make the balloon go down to the Pokémon Center's partly made of glass ceiling. James then throws two Poké balls at the glass, shattering it into pieces as the three of them jump inside the center.

"Yamask, use smokescreen! James ordered to one of the Pokémon he's about to let out.

The Poké balls burst open and the Pokémon Center was quickly covered in black smoke while everyone screamed as they ran out of the center.

"What's happening?!" The Nurse Joy in charge of the Pokémon Center yelled.

"Just give us all of this center's Pokémon and this will all be over soon," Jessie's voice answers Nurse Joy's question from the smoke as her, James and Meowth's body figures are being revealed along with their Pokémon. One was a green and red bug catcher plant-like Pokémon that had a psycho smile on its face. And the other was a levitating black shadow-like Pokémon holding a yellow mask with what seems to be its tail.

"Never! I'm not going to give any Pokémon to thieves like you," Nurse Joy replied.

"Well it's not like we we're really asking, you know? We don't need your permission, we do what we please. So, if you're not willing to give us the Pokémon, then we'll take them by force, come on out Seviper!" Jessie says that last part as she throws a Poké ball.

As soon as the Poké ball bursts open, Seviper, a black and purple fang snake-like Pokémon appears and starts hissing.

"Sevi-per!" The Pokémon cried.

"Seviper, use your poison tail!" Jennifer orders her Pokémon while pointing at the see-through glass of the counter that separates Nurse Joy from them.

Seviper then quickly dashes forward while its dagger-like tail lights up a bright purple color and with the impulse, it turns to the side to forcefully hit the glass, breaking it into pieces.

"Your turn, James," Jessie said.

"Yeah, show her not to mess with Team Rocket again," Meowth said.

"Alright, Carnivine use your vine whip," James ordered as he pointed towards Nurse Joy, and the bug catcher plant-like Pokémon let out green vines from under its arm-looking leaves. Just when the vines were about to wrap up Nurse Joy, she hit a red emergency button next to her and an alarm went off.

"Emergency, emergency! The Pokémon Center is in need of assistance. Repeat, the Pokémon Center is in need of assistance.

The three of them are shocked at hearing the alarm. "Meowth, hurry! Take as many Pokémon as you can from back there," Jessie said.

"On it!" Meowth says as he hops over the counter and enters through the back door of the counter while running.

* * *

"What's that noise? Jennifer asks Ryan as they both wake up because of the alarm going off. She's rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and starts talking as she realizes where the noise is coming from. "Ryan, we have to check what's going on."

"Yeah, we should check quickly," Ryan replies with a concerned expression.

They get up from their beds and quickly take their stuff, put on their backpacks and leave the room to go straight to the counter.

"What's going on, Nurse Joy?" Ryan asks as he sees her looking out the doors of the center.

"Some guys came and stole the Pokémon that had been taken care of from here! The police are on their way.

"Can we be of any help? We'd like to help you get the Pokémon back," Ryan said.

"Really? I would appreciate it."

"Of course!" Jennifer answers. "Now let's get going because then they will escape."

"Yes, let's go," Ryan said.

After saying that, they both run out of the center and look around to see if they notice someone near. And when they look up, they see the Meowth balloon not so far away from the back of the Pokémon center.

"That's Team Rocket!" Jennifer yells.

"Team Rocket? Who are they?" Ryan asks.

"They're the ones I told you about; they tried to steal my Chikorita. This job is for you Tailow, go and get those Pokémon back," Jennifer says as she takes a Poké ball out and throws it into the air. Tailow is then revealed flapping its wings with enthusiasm waiting for Jennifer's command. "Tailow, I want you to use your wing attack on Team Rocket's balloon to get them back down."

Tailow immediately takes flight after Team Rocket on Jennifer's command. Ryan and Jennifer start running right at the same time to follow the path as well. Team Rocket quickly notices Tailow after it catching up to them.

"Is that the Tailow from that girl? What's it doing?!" Jessie said in shock.

"Yes it is her Pokémon, she's down there! And she's not alone," Meowth said as he pointed down towards the running Jennifer and Ryan from on top of the edge of the balloon.

"Just what we needed, we finally don't have the twerps around and now we found ourselves a pair of new ones." Jessie said while looking down at Jennifer and Ryan.

"We have to do something about it. Carnivine, attack that Tailow with vine whip!" James said as he let out Carnivine from its Poké ball.

Carnivine then flings its vines forward and whips Tailow with them.

"Tai-low!" Tailow cried in pain.

"That's it, keep it away Carnivine!" James yells in a serious tone.

Carnivine keeps flinging its vines trying to keep the flying Pokémon away, but Tailow starts swaying around the vines to dodge and get closer to the balloon.

"Don't let it get any closer!" Jessie said with a worried expression.

While Tailow kept swaying around, it suddenly made a determined expression and as it did, its right wing lit up bright white. James then made a concerned expression as he saw Tailow rapidly dash forward dodging Carnivine's vines.

"No!" Meowth said as Tailow sliced the balloon.

Team Rocket then started falling down to the ground with the balloon.

"Ahhhh!" All of them yelled as they fell down, and suddenly crashed making a good amount of dirt rise up.

"That stupid little girl is going to pay!" Jessie yelled in an irritated way as the three of them get out of the balloon.

"It's like you said, we got ourselves new twerps!" Meowth cried.

"There they are!" Ryan said as he and Jennifer finally caught up to Team Rocket along with Tailow flying beside them.

"You will pay for this, you brats!" James said while pointing at them.

"That's what we should say!" Jennifer said out loud.

"Yeah," Ryan said as he took out two Poké balls from the pockets of his backpack. "So stop acting like we're the thieves," He then throws both Poké balls after they grew in his hands. "Marill, Chinchou, help us out!"

The two white lights coming from the Poké balls soon took form of the Pokémon, both looking great.

"Not so fast! Seviper, go!" Jessie says while releasing the fang snake Pokémon again from its Poké ball.

"Carnivine, use bullet seed into the air!" James ordered.

"Seviper, do your job!" Jessie orders as the seeds begin to fall. Seviper then quickly whipped the majority of them towards Ryan's Pokémon with its tail.

"Marill, defense curl. Chinchou, block it with spark!" Ryan said. Chinchou then quickly releases the light blue electricity from its antennas and blocks the majority of the approaching seeds. Marill got hit by some of them, but didn't take any damage due to using defense curl.

"Impossible! Seviper, use poison fang!" Jessie yelled desperately.

"Carnivine, bite!" James said.

"Perfect! Marill, Chinchou, combine water gun and spark!"

Ryan's Pokémon nodded and combined their attacks towards Seviper and Carnivine. The sparks began to flow around the water gun in a spiral and Team Rocket's Pokémon weren't able to stop their attacks. The attack hit them both and made them crash into Team Rocket, sending all of them flying to the sky.

"You got them!" Jennifer said to Ryan.

"We did," Ryan gave Jennifer smile.

"This can't be happening again!" Jessie said as the five of them were being sent flying with bruises and their hair messed up because of the electricity.

"I know, but at least Carnivine didn't-" James gets interrupted by Carnivine suddenly wrapping its leaves around him. "I spoke too soon!"

"Carnivine!" Carnivine cried with emotion.

"This is it!" Meowth said.

"Team Rocket is blasting off again!" The three of them yelled in disappointment. They then all disappeared in the distance and a star-like light flashed.

"Let's get the Pokémon now," Jennifer said.

The Police Officer from Emerald city then arrives on her motorcycle with a Growlithe on the extra seat of it and sees that Jennifer is holding the bag of Poké ball that was in Team Rocket's balloon.

"Stop right where you are!" Officer Jenny yells.

"Wait! It wasn't us!" Jennifer yelled with worry.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" Officer Jenny said as her Pokémon growled in a menacing way.

"Well…" Jennifer said.

"Umm…" Ryan said.

"Officer Jenny, it wasn't them! They were just helping!" Nurse Joy said as she arrived running.

"Huh? Then who was it?"

"We just beat them. We were going to take the Pokémon to Nurse Joy," Ryan said.

Officer Jenny then puts her right hand behind her back in embarrassment and speaks, "Oh, my bad. I'm really sorry about that." As she says that, her Growlithe hides behind her, ashamed.

"It's alright," Ryan replied.

"Thank goodness you came, Nurse Joy," Jennifer said.

"Yeah, I figured she'd be late so I came to check," Nurse Joy said while trying not to smile.

"Hey, what do you mean you figured?!"

"Nothing!" Nurse Joy said with a smile. She then turned to look at Jennifer and Ryan. "Anyway, I'm thankful to you guys, you were of great help."

Ryan and Jennifer nodded, and then Jennifer handed the bag of Poké balls to Nurse Joy, "Here you go," Jennifer said.

* * *

Soon, both Jennifer and Ryan found themselves walking in the middle of Emerald City. She was with only one thing in mind, her challenge for the Gym badge. He, excited to witness the battle, and with it, he'd get to see more of Jennifer's developing skills.

"You ready?" Ryan asked Jennifer.

"If I'm ready? Hell Yeah!"

"Great, cause even I'm excited," Ryan replied happily as the both kept walking.

"Really?"

"Definitely."

Not long after, they came upon the Gym's doors, and without hesitation, Jennifer knocked on them.

"Hello!" Jennifer said, and as she heard the doors beginning to open from the inside, she stepped back a little.

When the doors finally opened, a man was standing there and said, "Hello there."

"Is the Gym Leader here? I'm here for a challenge."

"Yes she is. I'll let her know right away, follow me."

When they followed him inside, they saw that the Gym battlefield was also full of vegetation. Tall trees and bushes of leaves almost everywhere, there were some benches at the sidelines too. Rays of sunlight coming down from the glass ceiling was giving the battlefield good clarity.

"This city feels like a never-ending forest," Jennifer said to Ryan.

"I agree."

"Hey, Tess. You have a new challenger.

"Perfect! I guess this day isn't going to be so boring after all," An excited voice echoed through the Gym in response.

After that, the figure of a woman was seen jumping off a tree doing a front flip and landing on her feet, covered up by shadows. She then walked a bit forward and stood on her side of the battlefield, now the clarity revealing her physic. A happy-looking girl dressed up in a short, dark green and black kimono. Her light skin perfectly fit with her straight black short hair. Ryan stood in awe with his jaw dropped as he stared at her beauty up from her black hair down to her short black boots.

Jennifer then sees Ryan's expression towards the Gym Leader and backhands his arm. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Hey, what was that for?!" Ryan asks as he snaps out of it.

"What do you think?!" Jennifer replies.

"Umm…" Ryan looks away from her with a nervous expression.

Jennifer glares at him, but quickly looks back to her front as she hears the Gym Director talk, "Well, I wish you luck," he then extends his right hand to shake hands with Jennifer.

"Thank you," Jennifer says as she shakes his hand.

The director then walks pass them and Jennifer turns her attention to the Gym Leader.

"About time, what's your name?" Tess asked as the Referee entered the battlefield from near the entrance of the Gym.

"Jennifer," she answered with a determined look.

"Alright Jennifer, how many Pokémon do you have?"

"I have three in total."

"Great! This is going to be awesome, that is if you're a good trainer," Tess said.

"Just you wait." She then looks at Ryan next to her. "Ryan, can you watch my backpack?"

"Sure," Ryan replied. Jennifer then took off her backpack and gave it to him. He then left to sit on one of the benches between the trees at the sidelines.

"Before you choose your first Pokémon, I'll show you the ones I'll be using." Tess said as she throws three Poké balls into the air. The Poké balls then opened releasing the white light from them and began to take form of her Pokémon. Three light green color Pokémon.

From left to right on Jennifer's point of view, the first one's a sewing worm-like Pokémon. The second one's a thorn-like Pokémon with three horns on its head and a calm expression, its left arm ending with a blue rose and its right arm with a red one. And the third and last one's a sunflower-like Pokémon with a happy look on its face and leaves as its arms.

"They all look great," Jennifer said surprised.

"I'll be using Sewaddle first," Tess said as she pointed at the sewing worm-like Pokémon.

Jennifer took out her Pokédex from her fanny pack and pointed it at the Pokémon, "Sewaddle, the sewing Pokémon. Sewaddle can produce a thread-like substance to sew together gnawed up leaves, which it uses to make its leafy clothes."

"_Um... Should I start off quick, or not? Let's just go for it,"_ Jennifer thinks as she puts her Pokédex back in her pack and then takes out a Poké ball with determination, "Oshawott, I choose you!" Oshawott was then standing on the field.

"What? She's starting with Oshawott?" Ryan asked to himself confused.

"I'm impressed, you chose a water-type. I guess this will be more than fun. George, you can give the rules now," She said that last part turning to the referee.

"This will be a three on three battle between the Gym Leader, Tess, and the challenger, Jennifer. The challenger has the first move, and will be the only one allowed to switch Pokémon. Let the battle begin!" The referee announced and raised up both of his hands to the sides.

To be continued…

**Author's statement:**

No Gym battle, I know… But it will be for the next one at least! Once again, I give credit to **WaivernRiver **for the title because I'm always having a hard time on making up stuff and deciding. I thank those of you who have decided to follow the story, the ones who've reviewed and the ones who are reading. I'll try to update sooner, but I'm not promising anything.


	6. A Power of Nature

**Pokémon Laguna Region: Jennifer's Quest**

**Author: Kevin Rivera**

Before you guys read this chapter, I feel like I have to say to you that I changed the ending of the last chapter a bit, it was minor details I forgot. Obviously, I'm saying this for those who read it in the first two days. So, if you want to check it out again for you not to ask yourself more questions than normally, feel free to do it.

**Chapter 6: A Power of Nature**

Tess returned her other two Pokémon to their Poké balls, and as they shrunk, she tucked them away into her kimono's right long sleeve. It seemed as if there was a discreet pocket in it. The referee had also given the rules of the Gym Battle after Tess and Jennifer decided which Pokémon they'd be using first, and now, the battle began.

"Oshawott, let's go close range with your razor shell!" The sea otter-like Pokémon grabbed the scalshop on its stomach and a light blue aura surrounded it. Oshawott then swung it, and the aura stretched into a harden energy blade. With it, Oshawott darted quick towards Tess's sewaddle while being serious.

"Osha!"

"Sewaddle, take him down with your string shot!" Tess ordered.

Sewaddle then releases a white sticky string from its mouth at Oshawott's feet and makes him trip with it. As Oshawott fell to the floor, he lost grasp of its scalchop, which slid a couple of feet away from it.

"Oh, no! Oshawott, hurry and get your scalchop back!" Jennifer yelled, already beginning to worry. The sea otter-like Pokémon then got up to its feet quick and began to run to take the scalshop back.

"Sewaddle, take it with string shot! Don't let him have it," Tess ordered.

"I won't let you! Oshawott, water gun!"

As Sewaddle's attack approached, Oshawott stopped running with Jennifer's command and released a stream of water from its mouth to block it. Then quickly resumed running and picked up the scalchop from the grass. But sewaddle didn't stop attacking, and continued its string shot once more, only for Oshawott to cut it with its scalchop.

"Razor leaf!" Tess ordered, and as she did, the edges of the leaf on Sewaddle's head started glowing green after nodding in agreement. Then a golden energy was formed in the back of it and quickly began to release spiraling razor-sharp leaves from it.

Without Jennifer having to say anything, Oshawott defends himself with the scalchop, moving it up and down blocking every single leaf that was thrown at him.

"I like that Pokémon! He can keep up with a grass-type," The Gym Leader said, impressed by Oshawott's skills.

"Isn't it great? You haven't seen all yet though, Oshawott, aqua jet!"

Oshawott's body then covers itself in water from bottom to top after a quick jump into the air, and shoots itself at Sewaddle like a rocket.

"Dodge it with string shot!" Tess ordered her Pokémon.

Sewaddle released the sticky thread from its mouth once again against a tree on its right, and right before the upcoming attack could hit, Sewaddle got out of the way pulling on the tree it wrapped with the string shot. Oshawott then crashed into the floor where Sewaddle stood and rolled once, but got back up immediately with seriousness.

"Oshawott, try your aqua jet one more time!" Jennifer shouted.

Oshawott rapidly obeys Jennifer's order and takes off with its attack, heading in a diagonal angle towards Sewaddle, who is now on top of one of the branches of a tree.

"Get out of there!" The Gym leader commanded, but it was too late. Oshawott reached before Sewaddle had any chance to move, and made him fall off the tree with the impact. Oshawott followed and jumped off the tree to stand in front of Sewaddle, who was struggling to get back up.

"Now, tackle!" Jennifer ordered.

Oshawott then lunges itself with a good amount of strength at Sewaddle.

"Bug bite!" Tess yelled.

As Oshawott is about to connect its tackle attack, the worm-like Pokémon's teeth begun to glow white while growing slightly. When the attack finally made contact, Sewaddle bit down on Oshawott's head to keep it away, while at the same time trying to do some damage.

"Good!" Tess shouted as she saw her Pokémon stop Oshawott's attack.

"I know you can do it Oshawott!" Jennifer yelled, seeing her Pokémon struggle.

Oshawott's expression suddenly changed into a determined one by hearing Jennifer cheering it up, and pushed stronger towards Sewaddle, bearing the pain of the bug bite attack. Quickly, Sewaddle became the one struggling to hold its ground.

"That's it, keep it going!" Jennifer shouted.

Oshawott soon made Sewaddle lose its ground, which made it fall to the floor and roll backwards a few times, making it get closer to the Gym Leader. Tess' Pokémon then stood up slowly and waited for her command as it stared down at Oshawott, even when looking severely weakened.

"We're not going to lose this so easily, isn't that right Oshawott?" Jennifer said.

"Osha!" Oshawott replied in agreement as he nodded once.

"Great, but we won't give you an easy badge."

"Waddle," Sewaddle cried as it nodded.

"Alright, Oshawott get closer, we're ending this at close range," Jennifer said.

Oshawott followed Jennifer's command and darted towards Sewaddle.

"Razor Leaf!" Tess commanded.

"Dodge and block all of them," Jennifer ordered with a calm tone.

As the razor-sharp leaves flew towards Oshawott, it started dodging most of them, and the ones it couldn't, it blocked them with its scalchop.

Then as Oshawott got closer to Tess' Pokémon, Jennifer spoke, "Razor Shell!"

"String shot!" Tess yelled.

Sewaddle immediately released the sticky string from its mouth to try to wrap Oshawott again, but Oshawott's attack was already being swung, so it cut the string and slashed down at Sewaddle. Sewaddle then fell back, unconscious.

"Sewaddle is unable to battle, Oshawott is the winner!"

"Yay, Oshawott you did it, great job!" Jennifer screeched with happiness.

"Sewaddle, return!" Tess said pointing Sewaddle's Poké ball at it, which she had taken back out from her kimono's right sleeve. She then tucked it in and took another one, which grew in her hand. "That's a great Oshawott you got there, now if you'll stay with it we'll see if it can keep up with my next Pokémon. Go, Sunflora!" She tossed a Poké ball into the air as she said those last words with confidence.

A sunflower-like Pokémon was then unveiled, standing on its feet with extending leaves like arms coming from its round body. Its body almost completely green from bottom to top, except its cream-colored face with yellow petals around it.

"Cool! Let me check it out," Jennifer said at the sight of Tess' Pokémon, and quickly looked for her Pokédex in her fanny pack to point it at the Pokémon.

"Sunflora, the Sun Pokémon. This smiling Pokémon loves the sun, but it also needs plenty of water to ensure healthy development," The Pokédex said with its robotic voice.

"Hmm… I'll stick with Oshawott," Jennifer decided.

"Osha!" Oshawott cried holding up its scalchop with determination.

"_I just can't believe her! She just heard that water helps Sunflora's health and she still goes for it. One thing is going against the odds, but this?!" _Ryan thought with a confused look as he saw Jennifer's choice.

"Not a good choice," Tess said to Jennifer.

"We shall see," Jennifer replied.

"Yes, we will," Tess said.

"Oshawott, tackle it!" Jennifer shouted suddenly.

Oshawott followed what Jennifer ordered and started running towards Sunflora.

"Osha, Osha!" Oshawott cried.

"Leech seed!" Tess ordered her Pokémon.

Oshawott had just lunched itself forward to attack Sunflora, which stood happily right where it was until the Gym Leader ordered it to attack. And just when Sunflora hears the command, it lowers its head forward and releases two brown round seeds from the back of his head at Oshawott. As Oshawott sees this, it closes its eyes with worry while continuing the attack. Both seeds then hit Oshawott before it connected its attack, and as they did, they sprout vines and wrapped up Oshawott. This caused Oshawott to fall down to the floor, helpless.

"Oshawott!" Jennifer shouted, worried.

"Osha, oshawott!" Oshawott cried as it tried to get out of the grip of the vines.

"Sunflora, time for Sunny day!" Tess said happily.

"Oh no!" Ryan said to himself with worry as he watched the progress of the battle. "In that position, Oshawott won't be able to use its scalchop."

The upper petals around Sunflora's head then begin to shine yellow, and suddenly, it started releasing a golden energy from them into the sky getting through the glass ceiling. All of them looking like rays of sunlight making the sun brighter and brighter with their power. After the sun was bright enough, Sunflora stopped the attack. Oshawott's energy was being drained by the vines that wrapped it up as they glowed red from time to time.

"Now solarbeam!" Tess shouted as Oshawott struggled to get free from the vines.

"Oshawott, get out!" Jennifer yelled.

All of Sunflora's front petals around its head began to glow white along with its face. As this happened, Sunflora instantly fired a massive beam of white energy empowered by the sunlight at Oshawott, who couldn't do anything to move out of the way or protect itself. The beam connected quick and pushed Oshawott back to Jennifer's feet with an incredible power. When the attack faded, Oshawott lied unconscious below Jennifer, now unwrapped.

"I'm sorry Oshawott, I shouldn't have pushed my luck with you," Jennifer says as she kneels down to pick up her unconscious Pokémon in her arms. She then looks for its Poké ball in her fanny pack and points it at it as she says, "Anyways, you were awesome, so take a good rest."

"Oshawott is unable to continue, Sunflora and Tess win this round," the referee announced.

"Told you so!" Tess said proudly.

"_And she's supposed to be a Gym Leader… How childish can she get?! Hahh, calm down Jennifer, calm down," _Jennifer thought as an angry vein appeared on the right side of her forehead and then vanished as she calmed down.

Ryan's jaw was dropped at Tess' comment as he thought, _"Ouch, I can tell Jennifer's annoyed!"_

"My next Pokémon won't be as easy, that I'm sure of," Jennifer said to Tess with determination as she looked for her next Poké ball.

"Good, don't disappoint me," Tess replied to Jennifer.

"You'll see," Jennifer said as she looked up at Tess and the Poké ball she took out of her fanny pack increased in size in her right hand. "Go, Tailow!" she said as she threw the Poké ball.

The white light coming from the Poké ball took form of Tailow flying at the height of Jennifer as it cried with a fighting spirit.

"_To have chosen Tailow before Chikorita, she must be pissed," _Ryan thought, amused.

"Now this is something, you're finally going for type advantage. Although, don't think that's all you'll need to beat me," Tess said as she saw Jennifer's Pokémon.

"I know it's not all about type advantage, but I'm still sure of what my Pokémon are capable of."

"Tai-low!" Tailow cried happily as it heard that it was being praised.

"Alright, then show me what Tailow is made of," Tess said.

"You asked for it. Tailow, quick attack!" Jennifer ordered.

Tailow then rushes forward leaving white trails behind it with its speed.

"Leech seed!" Tess yelled her command.

With Tess' command, Sunflora lowers its head to release the seeds from the back of it. Just when Tailow reaches fighting distance, Sunflora releases the seeds towards Tailow. As this happens, Tailow reacts quickly to it and slants to the left, dodging the two seeds on its way. Right after doing that, Tailow connects its attack with enough strength to make Sunflora fall backwards with the impact. After hitting, Tailow takes flight to gain a little distance from Sunflora.

"You won't get me with the same trick anymore," Jennifer said proudly.

"Sunflora, I have no choice but to battle now with you, either way I know you'll do pretty good," Tess says to her Pokémon with a smile on her face.

Sunflora then tries to get back up as it struggles, its always brilliant smile now being a little disturbed by the pain. But then with sudden determination caused by Tess' words, it stood up to continue battling the now flying Tailow, who had stopped moving at a good distance away, facing Sunflora.

"That's my Sunflora, I knew you could do it!" Tess shouted. "Now, use your razor leaf attack."

Sunflora quickly followed the Gym Leader's command and began waving its leaves-like arms to shoot out the razor-sharp leaves, this time in an upward angle.

"Tailow, dodge!" Jennifer shouted to her Pokémon.

"Tailow!" Tailow cried as it flew to the left to dodge the upcoming leaves.

"Not so fast, Sunflora, use solarbeam!"

Sunflora's front petals along with its face started to glow again, and quickly after that, Sunflora fired the white energy at Tailow.

"Sun-flora!" Sunflora cried as it released its attack.

"Don't let it get close to you, keep your distance!" Jennifer yelled with worry.

As Tailow flies away around the battlefield to dodge the solarbeam, Sunflora follows it with the attack without stopping. After a while, Sunflora stopped its attack without success.

"Tailow, it's to time to get close, use your peck attack!" Jennifer yelled.

With that said, Tailow immediately started to dive down towards Sunflora, its beak starting to glow white.

"Tailow!" Tailow cried.

"It's too quick to use another solarbeam, we'll have to dodge for now, Sunflora," Tess said.

"Flora!" Sunflora cried out as it held its ground to concentrate on Tailow.

Tailow then reached Sunflora, and when is about to connect its peck attack, Sunflora jumps out of the way and dodges the attack.

"Don't stop Tailow, keep attacking!" Jennifer shouted.

"Tai-low" Tailow cried as it turned back to Sunflora right after missing and descends near it to keep attacking.

Sunflora soon found itself having problems dodging Tailow's attack as it tried to back away in every attempt. Sunflora then tripped and gave Tailow time to connect its attack three times. After this, Sunflora fell down to the grass with pain.

"Tailow, back away now, it's time to end this with wing attack!" Jennifer ordered.

Tailow pulled its body back a bit after this, its right wing beginning to glow white. Right after its right wing turned completely white, Tailow dashed towards Sunflora with great speed.

"Sunflora, get out!" Tess shouted.

"Flo…ra," Sunflora cried in pain trying to get up.

"Tailow!" Tailow cried as it passed by and hit Sunflora with its wing attack, taking flight after this.

"Sun!" Sunflora yelled out as it fell backwards without hope.

"Sunflora is unable to battle; this round goes for Tailow and Jennifer!" The referee shouted.

"Return!" Tess said as she pointed Sunflora's Poké ball at it. She then spoke while the red beam coming from the Pokéball was retrieving Sunflora, "You did well as always, I'm proud of you, Sunflora," she then glanced at Jennifer and tucked Sunflora's Poké ball into her right sleeve, another one rolled down it as her look changed into a confident one. "This is it; I'm down to my last Pokémon, we shall see now if you really deserve the leaf badge. Let's have some fun, Roselia, come on out!"

As Tess said those last words, she threw a Poké ball up, and as it descended, the Poké ball bursted open, releasing a white light that turned into the thorn-like Pokémon. The calm-looking Pokémon then extends both of its arms to the sides as if embracing the sunlight, which made its beauty, shine more on the battlefield.

"Roselia!" Roselia cried out with happiness, brought to it by the sunlight.

"Roselia, the Thorn Pokémon. Roselia's aroma can bring serenity, but the thorns on its head contain a vicious poison," the pokédex explained.

"Vicious poison huh? I have to be careful with that," Jennifer said to herself as she tucked the Pokédex back in her fanny pack.

"Well Jennifer, let's finish what we started. This will determine if your skills are enough to win yourself the leaf badge," Tess said to Jennifer, slightly smiling.

"Yes, let's do this. I'll do my best to get that badge; I'd never give up, even if I would be in the worst position ever!" Jennifer said with determination as her Tailow descended to fly in place in front of her, ready to fight its next opponent.

"Alright, it's time then. Roselia, start this off with magical leaf!"

"Roselia!" Roselia cried as it followed Tess' command to begin the battle.

With determination, Roselia thrusts forward both of its hands' roses and they start to glow white. It then shoots multiple glowing light green spiraling crescents from the bright light at Tailow.

"Tailow, take flight again! Let's try to avoid any damage!" Jennifer shouted.

"Tai-low!" Tailow cried as it took flight.

Roselia then tried to follow Tailow with its attack, but eventually stopped because the attack was dissipating before reaching Tailow's distance.

"That's good enough; let's go for quick attack now!" Jennifer ordered.

"Low!" Tailow cried as it began to dive down towards Roselia at a good speed while leaving the white trails behind it.

"Roselia, use your stun spore!" Tess yelled out as Tailow began its attack.

Roselia acted quickly and stretched its hands' roses forward again, now releasing an orange powder instantly.

"What's that?!" Jennifer questioned to herself, worried, but Tailow flew forward, regardless.

Then, Tailow came about the cloud of orange powder at an amazing speed to attack Roselia, but just when it entered it, the powder was so strong that caused a great effect. Tailow had a shocked expression, it was so strong it made it close its wings, and struggle to keep its eyes open. Tailow had become greatly paralyzed by the direct hit and fell to the grass, not too far behind Roselia.

"Tailow, are you okay?!" Jennifer shouted.

"Tai-low…" Tailow grimaced in pain, getting back up on its talons.

"Finish this with poison sting!" Tess ordered quickly, not wanting to give a single break.

Roselia then turned back and started releasing a purple spray along with violet darts from its mouth towards Tailow.

"Tailow, block it with gust!" Jennifer shouted.

Tailow quickly pulled back what it could and began flapping its wings repeatedly in the air, creating a great gust of wind that blew away Roselia's attack. Roselia then struggled a bit to keep its ground while being slightly hit by its own attack as it got pulled back a little as well. Just when Roselia couldn't hold much longer and was about to fall, a spark of electricity crackled across Tailow's body and made it stop its attack with pain.

Tess gave a proud smile as she saw this happening. Roselia was now standing still on the ground.

"Now, petal dance!" Tess yelled.

"Ro-se-lia" Roselia cried as it began spinning rapidly in its place, releasing pink petals, which were now spiraling towards Tailow.

"Try your gust again, Tailow!" Jennifer ordered, but Tailow couldn't still respond to her command. As a result, Roselia's attack connected directly, and Tailow fell to the ground, harshly rolling a bit.

When it stopped rolling, it was clear that Tailow couldn't continue, and the referee held up his left hand towards Jennifer's side of the field, "Tailow is unable to battle, Roselia is the winner!" he had put his left hand down and raised up his right one to declare Roselia as the winner.

As the referee announced this, Jennifer walked up to her Pokémon and took it in her arms.

"Tai…" Tailow cried.

"That was more than good, there's no need to worry," Jennifer said as she got Tailow's Poké ball and pointed it at it. "Rest good now," she said with a smile as the red beam of the Poké ball retrieved Tailow. She then tucked the Poké ball in her fanny pack and walked back to her side of the field.

Then, as Jennifer turned herself to face the upcoming battle, Tess spoke, "We're both now down to our last Pokémon, this has turned out to be better than I expected."

"Yes and the Pokémon I'll be using now is the one I trust the most," Jennifer said, and then looked up after having a Poké ball in her right hand. "This is my starter, Chikorita come on out!" she said as she let her Pokémon out of the Poké ball.

"Chiko!" Chikorita stood on the grassy floor and made the leaf on its head spin once by moving its neck, showing off its seriousness for the battle.

"You sure have made the weirdest choices to come challenge me, you know? It has been really different to my recent challengers," Tess said.

"You're a Gym Leader, you should know better than this. We're supposed to trust our partners to the very end, but also know when they should stop. I'm getting to know the extent of my Pokémon's strength."

Tess had an expression of annoyance at Jennifer's first comment until she said the words that followed it, which changed her expression to an understanding but confusing one at the same time.

"I get what you mean, but why would you test your Pokémon's strength on a Gym Battle? You can do that anywhere else without needing to put the conclusion of the battle at risk," Tess said.

"You have a point right there, but that's a risk I'm willing to take," Jennifer replied with a smile. She then got ready to start, "Chikorita, razor leaf!"

"Chiko!"

Chikorita quickly jumped forward and spun the leaf on its head to throw the razor-sharp leaves at Roselia.

"Roselia, counter-attack with magical leaf!" Tess shouted.

Roselia then quickly thrust its hands forward and shot out the multiple spinning crescents once its hands glowed white. Both attacks collided and neither of them received damage.

"Chikorita, tackle now!" Jennifer ordered immediately, and Chikorita began running towards Roselia, following her command.

"Stun spore, don't let it get close!" Tess shouted, and Roselia quickly released the orange powder.

"Don't get any closer, stay where you are and attack with vine whip!" Jennifer yelled in reaction.

"Chiko!" Chikorita sent its vines through the orange powder after making a stop with Jennifer's order.

Chikorita connected its attack and whipped Roselia a couple of times making it stop releasing the orange powder. Chikorita then wrapped Roselia with the vines and pulled it closer to send it flying into the air.

"It didn't work out this time, that was quite a smart move…" Tess said to herself with a serious expression. _"But this is still not the end of this battle," _she thought, this time slightly smiling.

"Razor leaf again, Chikorita!" Jennifer shouted.

Chikorita followed her trainer's order and sent the leaves flying towards Roselia. Most of them connected directly, causing a good amount of damage to Roselia, making it grimace in the air.

"Try to hold it a bit longer, Roselia, this is not over yet!" Tess yelled.

"Se-lia!" Roselia agreed, and then landed hard on its knees, holding the impact a little with its hands. "Ro…" it cried with a little pain, and then got up to its feet.

"Chikorita, tackle now!" Jennifer ordered. Chikorita quickly dashed forward to attack.

"No, poison sting!" Tess yelled.

"Too late!" Jennifer shouted with a smile.

Roselia got ready to attack, but at the same time Chikorita reached Roselia and connected its tackle attack. Roselia was not able to fully release its attack and was thrown back, rolling on the grass. Eventually, it stopped rolling, and now was getting back up.

"Ro… Se…" Roselia got almost completely up, but when it did, it fell back to the floor without any remaining strength."

"Roselia is unable to continue, Chikorita is the winner, making also the challenger Jennifer winner of this match!"

"Roselia, return!" Tess said as the Poké ball in her hand retrieved Roselia with the red beam. "I guess I was wrong, I tried to push you pass your limit. Anyway, that was an excellent battle," she said, looking at the Poké ball, and then tucked it into her Kimono's long sleeve. After that, she looks up at Jennifer and speaks, "Jennifer, I'm impressed by your skills and way of thinking. You made me realize that the trust between Pokémon and trainer is very important to be able to reach farther than what we see."

Tess then began walking towards Jennifer as she took out the leaf badge from her left sleeve of her Kimono.

"Here, you deserve the leaf badge not only because you won this battle, but because you also showed what good of a person and trainer you are and will be to Pokémon," Tess said smiling as she handed the leaf badge to Jennifer.

"I appreciate the kind words, thanks for the acknowledgement," Jennifer replied smiling as well. She then turned back to face Ryan, who had just recently got up from the bench he was sitting on and was now walking towards her with excitement. "Ryan, I did it again, I got the leaf badge! High five!" Jennifer said and then the both of them held up their right hand and gave each other a high-five.

Tess then spoke, extending her hand to Jennifer, "Wish you luck, I hope you keep improving."

Jennifer shakes her hand and says, "Thanks again, goodbye," she said and then let go of Tess' hand to leave the Gym with Ryan. Both waved goodbye to the Gym Leader and then they both left.

"Where's our other destination now?" Jennifer asked Ryan as they walked west once they got out of the Gym.

"Just follow me this time, but we have to eventually get ourselves the Laguna Region's Town Map. I don't have a good sense of directions, if I don't travel much around the area I eventually forget," Ryan said with a shameful smile.

Jennifer then shook her head in disapproval and smiled, "Alright."

To be continued…

**Author's statement**

I have to say I'm so sorry I took forever for this update, I shouldn't have even said anything on the last chapter. My laziness, facebook and school work got in the way of my writing. I really hope you guys liked the chapter and that you haven't left because of the long wait. Also, I'd appreciate you guys telling me your opinions about the Gym battles, what you think I should improve on and stuff like that. Once again, thank you for reading.


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